Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $5.34 Million Holdings in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ:QLYS) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,097 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 372 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Qualys were worth $5,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in QLYS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Qualys by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,312,662 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $604,721,000 after purchasing an additional 131,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Qualys by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,262,931 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $178,445,000 after buying an additional 16,369 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Qualys by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,049,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $147,178,000 after buying an additional 123,530 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Qualys by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 954,583 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $133,852,000 after acquiring an additional 88,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Qualys by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 920,163 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $129,025,000 after acquiring an additional 38,880 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Qualys from $120.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Qualys from $145.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Qualys from $163.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Qualys from $160.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $142.00 price target on shares of Qualys and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.50.

Qualys Price Performance

NASDAQ QLYS opened at $135.90 on Friday. Qualys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $112.61 and a fifty-two week high of $170.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $126.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23 and a beta of 0.61.

Qualys (NASDAQ:QLYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $159.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.05 million. Qualys had a return on equity of 38.52% and a net margin of 28.59%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Qualys, Inc. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey P. Hank sold 4,000 shares of Qualys stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.93, for a total value of $515,720.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,633,027.38. The trade was a 24.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joo Mi Kim sold 1,018 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.75, for a total value of $129,031.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,791,610. This represents a 1.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,127 shares of company stock valued at $1,905,108 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Qualys Profile

Qualys, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based platform delivering information technology (IT), security, and compliance solutions in the United States and internationally. It offers Qualys Cloud Apps, which include Cybersecurity Asset Management and External Attack Surface Management; Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response; Web Application Scanning; Patch Management; Custom Assessment and Remediation; Multi-Vector Endpoint Detection and Response; Context Extended Detection and Response; Policy Compliance; File Integrity Monitoring; and Qualys TotalCloud, as well as Cloud Workload Protection, Cloud Detection and Response, Cloud Security Posture Management, Infrastructure as Code, and Container Security.